Friday, 7 November 2014

New Delhi woos island states, but China looms large in Indian Ocean

INS Tarmugli (now SCG Topaz) gifted to Seychelles by India in 2005, will be joined by a sister ship today, gifted by the naval chief in Port Victoria

By
Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 7th Nov 14

Navy
chief Admiral RK Dhowan arrived in Seychelles on Thursday, where he will gift
an India-built fast attack craft (FAC) to the island country. Another FAC
gifted in 2005 continues to serve the Seychelles coast guard.

Meanwhile
three frontline naval warships, on a two-month deployment in the southern
Indian Ocean, arrived in the Seychelles capital, Port Victoria on Thursday, to
underline New Delhi’s close relations with a crucial maritime partner.

Building
relations in the Indian Ocean, New Delhi has also gifted naval vessels to
Mauritius, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka Navy flagship, called SLNS
Sayura, is an offshore patrol vessel (OPV) provided by India. Goa Shipyards is
currently building two more OPVs for the Sri Lanka Navy.

Yet
this may no longer be enough to discourage friendly countries from welcoming
China into the Indian Ocean. On September 15, two days before Chinese president
Xi Jinping began his state visit to India, a conventional submarine from the
People’s Liberation Army (Navy), or PLA(N), quietly docked at Colombo in Sri
Lanka.

China’s
ministry of defence later announced, somewhat cryptically, that this was the
first time a Chinese submarine had “openly visited a nation in the Indian
Ocean.”

This
precedent has been quickly followed up. On October 31, Sri Lanka announced that
another PLA(N) conventional submarine, Changzheng 2, is on a five-day visit to
Colombo, accompanied by a vehicle cargo vessel, Chang Xing Dao.

The
Indian Navy accepts that the PLA(N)’s growing presence is inevitable. Since
2008, eighteen Chinese naval task forces --- of increasing capability --- have operated
in the Indian Ocean, supporting the international effort against piracy.

Anti-piracy
provided Chinese warships a legitimate reason to spend extended periods in the Indian
Ocean, strengthening relationships with littoral states.

“The
PLA(N) has exploited the anti-piracy effort to consolidate its presence in the
region. Each task force consists of three major warships; while one is on
station, another is on its way back and a third is en route. These flotillas make
port visits to show the Chinese flag,” says a serving Indian admiral.

Yet
there is concern in New Delhi that PLA(N) submarines are now paying port visits
--- allegedly here for anti-piracy patrols. China’s defence ministry has
claimed that the submarine that docked at Colombo “was on an escort mission to
the Gulf of Aden and Somalia”.

Indian
navy planners scoff at the notion that fighting pirates requires a submarine
escort.

New
Delhi is as concerned at Colombo opening its doors to China, despite official
and unofficial agreements with New Delhi on protecting India’s sphere of
influence.

In
an exchange of letters in end-July 1987, following the signing of the Indo-Sri
Lanka Agreement to Establish Peace and Normalcy in Sri Lanka (also referred to
as the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord) the two countries had agreed that “Trincomalee or
any other ports in Sri Lanka will not be made available for military use by any
country in a manner prejudicial to India's interests.”

Even
so, since the agreement does not define “India’s interests”, Colombo can classify
the Chinese submarine’s visit as a routine matter.

Explaining
the PLA(N) submarine’s visit, Sri Lanka said: “This is nothing unusual. Since
2010, 230 warships have called at Colombo port from various countries on
goodwill visits and for refuelling and crew refreshment.”

New
Delhi has demonstrated restraint, conveying its displeasure to Colombo only
privately. However, New Delhi policymakers say Sri Lanka would cross an Indian
red lines if it permitted a PLA(N) nuclear submarine to visit Sri Lanka.

“Conventional
submarines legitimately visit foreign ports for restocking, and for rest and
recreation of crews. But a visit by a nuclear submarine requires an
extraordinarily close political relationship. Only very close friends allows a
nuclear submarine to visit its ports,” says a high-ranking defence ministry
official.

A
second Indian red line would be a PLA(N) visit to Trincomalee. With its superb
deep-water harbour and its proximity to India, this port is especially
sensitive for New Delhi. That is why Trincomalee was cited in the 1987
agreement.

Besides,
Trincomalee is off the international shipping routes, being located in
northeastern Sri Lanka. “Regular shipping does not go past Trincomalee; a visit
to that port would indicate a special interest”, says the MoD official.

Colombo’s
deference to Beijing is believed to stem from a two-fold interest. The first is
to play India off against China, in the manner of many small states. Second,
Beijing deploys financial resources to Sri Lanka that are irresistible to
Colombo.

Indian
aid to Sri Lanka has also been rising. From Rs 15-25 crore a decade ago, the
allocation for Sri Lanka has jumped to Rs 500 crore in the current budget,
almost as much as the Rs 676 crore allocated to Afghanistan.

Over
the last five years, Indian aid to Sri Lanka has risen steadily --- Rs 69
crore, 91 crore, 182 crore, 248 crore and Rs 410 crore respectively.

Even
so, this is dwarfed by China’s investments in Sri Lanka, which are nudging $5
billion over the last decade, with another $2.1 billion committed as loans.
Furthermore, Beijing’s self-serving principle of “non-interference in internal
affairs” is welcomed by Colombo, while New Delhi has voted in the UN against
Sri Lanka’s human rights record during the closing period of the war against
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

5 comments:

Anonymous
said...

It's SL which is new thorn after porkistan in India's flesh. Aid to SL should be shut off rather than increased. It's becoming progressively hostile to India's security. Rajapakse family is on collision course with India.

These incidents are common & no situation of red lines arrives here. Chinese subs have already visited & visits Maldives and Seychelles. India can also send its subs to Japan or Taiwan provided they allow us. Its totally on the countries to allow the subs or not. The submarines docked are SSK's & not SSBN's which can be used to launch SLBM to target Delhi. To attack India chinese subs have capabilities to launch missiles from South China sea rather than risking themselves coming nearer to Indian shores. Infact no country sends or allows SSBN's to dock in other countries. Yes chances remain of intelligence gathering, strategic location survey by visiting ssk's but that would have been easily avoided if India took some careful decisions regarding Sri Lanka in the past. Fishermen trouble, Tamil Nadu govt. decisions have further aggravated these situations. Its an act by Sri Lanka to show that they are not dependent on India alone. Its high time to play diplomatic games properly rather than satisfying regional politics.